Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Do Green Buildings Enhance Productivity?

Are employees who work in green buildings more productive? According to green cleaning advocate Stephen Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and Sustainable Tool, LLC, they are. In a release recently sent by Ashkin to Green Lodging News, he cited a September 2009 University of San Diego study that found that employees working in green buildings are more productive than their counterparts in non-green facilities. “The researchers identified a green building as one that is LEED-certified or Energy Star-labeled,” Ashkin says.

The comprehensive study involved more than 2,000 workers from 154 different green buildings. Formerly, these staffers worked in conventional, non-green facilities. For the study, researchers looked at two key measurements: number of sick days reported and self-reported productivity percentage changes. Among the findings:

• Forty-five percent of respondents reported an average of 2.9 fewer sick days in the new green location;• Nearly 43 percent of the employees agreed they were more productive in green buildings; twelve percent said they strongly agreed they were more productive in green buildings and 45 percent noted little change;• Ten percent actually reported an increase in the number of sick days after moving to a green facility.

“Some clarification is needed to explain the last two statistics,” Ashkin says. “Many of these folks reporting no changes or even an increase in sick days were in Energy Star-labeled buildings that do not have indoor air quality (IAQ) requirements. LEED-certified buildings do have IAQ standards and that makes a big difference.”

Ashkin goes on to add that these findings are similar to other studies conducted over the past few years. “They remind us of the many benefits of green buildings, which [are] not only fewer sick days and greater worker productivity, but enhanced employee retention, recruitment, and worker morale.”

What are your thoughts? Are those who work in green hotels more productive?